NEW ORLEANSHTC confirmed today that its flagship One X, One S, and One V phones will not be coming to Verizon Wireless, the largest carrier in the U.S.

"Verizon is not going to be carrying either of the HTC One devices currently announced," HTC spokesman Jeff Gordon said. As for future One-branded devices, "anything is possible," he said.

Rather than carrying the highly rated One phones, Verizon has instead decided to debut a different HTC phone at the CTIA Wireless trade show this week, the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE (slideshow below).

While the Incredible 4G shares some qualities with the One phones - Beats Audio, Android 4.0, and support for HTC's Media Link video system, for instance - it doesn't have the One line's Image Sense camera processor. The phone's main processor is also slower than the One S and One V, at 1.2GHz rather than 1.5GHz.

Gordon noted that the Incredible 4G doesn't have an underclocked processor; Verizon and HTC just decided to go with a slower part.

Verizon joins Sprint in turning down the One line. Instead of a One X or One S, Sprint decided to customize its EVO 4G LTE phone with a different body style, a built-in kickstand, and HD voice. The EVO 4G LTE is probably closer to the One X than the Incredible 4G is to any of the One phones, though. Sprint's prepaid brand Virgin Mobile was also shown as a partner when the low-cost One V was originally announced.

There's one thing the Incredible 4G may have that the One X lacks, though: an unlocked bootloader. Demanded by a small but extremely passionate group of Android geeks, unlocked bootloaders allow you to replace the phone's OS with software of your own design.

"We are absolutely committed to the bootloader unlocking program," Gordon said, and so far Verizon Wireless is on board - although, of course, the carrier's view could change at any time.

The AT&T version of the One X has a locked bootloader because of mysterious "restrictions" HTC has cited, which most industry watchers have taken to mean AT&T is forbidding unlocking the software.

About the Author

PCMag.com's lead mobile analyst, Sascha Segan, has reviewed hundreds of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets in more than 13 years with PCMag. He's the head of our Fastest Mobile Networks project, hosts our One Cool Thing daily Web show, and writes opinions on tech and society.
Segan is also a multiple award-winning travel writer. Other than ... See Full Bio

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